Layers uncovered

A warning right now - this is a photo-heavy post! After my last post I thought it would be fun to see how the layers combine to give the finished result, so there are lots of WIP photos and some close-ups at the end of the finished spread. 

The result here had a graffiti feel to it which made me think of walls and what people write on them. Then I thought about the way we allow people to 'write' their opinions on our lives. So what will you allow them to write? 

Failure?

Deadbeat?

Useless?

Will you allow people to write those things on the wall of your life? Or will you believe the positive?

Loved!

Wanted!

Valuable!

It's your wall. Scrub off the unhelpful graffiti and splash on the truth! Believe it. Live it.

And here are the layers:

A bit of collage. The paper on the left is a piece from the sheet I use under the pages I'm working on.

A gelli-print randomly applied.

Some turquoise spray and a yellow wash.

Random squiggles with a water-soluble graphite pencil.

A bit of stencilling.

Gelli-printed greaseproof (deli) paper applied with gel medium so the previous layers show through.

More spray.

Stencilled gesso.

Orange glaze, a bit of paint, and more spray with drips.

The last lot of stencilling before the journalling went on there.

And some close-ups:

Lots of layers

This page started out quite plainly. I had a few bits of paper with circles cut out of them left over from another page. I stuck them randomly across the spread and left it.

For no particular reason I gelli-printed lime and purple across not-quite-the-middle of the page. This left a large margin blank, so a bit of green paint was applied with a baby-wipe.

Hmm. It wasn't looking promising. The colours weren't my usual mix and they were still starkly separate. But no matter. A few more layers and they started to come together - sprays and oil pastels and more sprays and stamping and gelli-printed greaseproof paper (which gave a great grungy look as it was a ghost print from black) and inks brushed on and bubble-wrap prints - and now I was loving it.

So much so that I didn't want to cover it all up!

So I thought about the layers and the depth of colour and richness and it made me think about life. Each layer, looked at alone, was nothing special. But as they merged together and interacted with one another a beauty emerged. And that is how it is in life. There are some things that happen to us that are ugly, some that are mundane, but when they are joined with all our other life experiences, they can become beautiful. I don't think this page would have pleased me so much without the dark parts of the gelli-printed greaseproof paper. They add a certain something. And when we live through difficult things but refuse to allow them to overcome us, we emerge with a luminosity that is easy to see.

Embrace the layers of your life and allow them all to add to the beauty that is you.

Journal Fodder 365 - Prompt #44

The prompt for this week was owning your shadow.

The idea was to embrace both your dark and light sides. However, I don't want to embrace my dark side. I am happy to acknowledge it, but I am trying to get rid of it, not make a friend of it.

As much as I tried to get a dark and a light side to this spread, it just wasn't happening. One side is slightly lighter than the other, but nothing glaringly obvious. And I hope that that reflects what is happening inside me - the light is pouring in and dispelling the darkness. I love the way DC Talk put it in their song Jesus Freak, 'the grace that replaced all the me I divorced'. That is the light in me.

The dark is what I would be if there was no grace.

Keeping your mouth shut

There are times when silence is better than speaking.

There are times when whatever you say will be the wrong thing.

There are times when not speaking will make you appear wise, even if you haven't a clue.

There are times when there are no words that will take away the pain and silent hand-holding is what is needed.

There are times when you will want to speak out in your own defence, but the wiser thing to do is to keep silence.

There are times when speaking is the worst thing you can do.

Learn to know when those times are.

One Little Word - Calm

One Little Word is back this month with two little words, calm and dream. I pulled out the time-lapse camera and did a little something for 'calm'.

A small stack of patterned circles gave me plenty of texture and interest in the background. A layer of gesso evened the whole thing out. Then I had fun with colour - sprays and acrylics applied with a palette knife to give a nice loose look.

My nifty circle-cutter provided a mask for the black spray - which if you look carefully also went all over my fingers :)

All it needed now was some journalling: 'When all around is darkness, stay calm and look within yourself and beyond yourself for the light that is surely there.'

Staying calm helps you to keep a clear head. When your head is clear, you can find the light that is inside that pushes back the darkness. You can also look beyond your present circumstances to the light at the end of the tunnel. The darkness won't last forever and if we can focus on the coming light we can endure.

Journal Fodder 365 - Prompt #43

The prompt for this week was standing in your shadow. Who is standing in your shadow? Who do you outshine and overshadow?

My hope is that I would never overshadow someone. I am a behind-the-scenes person, not wanting the limelight at all. I would never want to put out someone else's light. I'm more likely to be pushing them towards the light, equipping and encouraging them in pursuing their dream.

I'm a skill-sharer, taking great satisfaction in watching others discover their gifts and running with them.

I'm happy to be standing in their shadow.

Speaks for itself...

Art Journal Journey

I missed out on the Journey last month as I was busy making faces every day for 29 Faces. But this month I'm back and the challenge is A Fantasy Scene. 

I really wasn't sure what I was going to do for this challenge. Thoughts of a layout for my dream studio passed through but didn't come to anything. Then I was playing with my new stencils and made the background that turned into this page. I added a wash over the acrylic paint, then some gelli-printed greaseproof (deli) paper.

For some reason it needed some trees so they were stamped on. Then an archway - I masked and sprayed that with acrylic ink. And there it was - the Doorway of Dreams.

Now I'm off to see the other fantasy scenes at Art Journal Journey.